Reynaldo Rey

Reynaldo Rey was an actor and comedian known for his work in the 1995 Ice Cube hit film "Friday" and some 50 other movies. Mr. Rey's role as the father of Red (D J Pooh), a friend of the main character, in "Friday" was probably his best known. But he was also seen, usually in small but memorable comic parts, in movies like "A Rage in Harlem" (1991), "White Men Can't Jump" (1992) and "First Sunday" (2008), also starring Ice Cube.

On television he was in episodes of "The Bernie Mac Show," "The Wayans Bros.," "The Parent 'Hood" and other sitcoms, and had a recurring role as a mailman on the 1985-90 NBC series "227," set in and around an apartment building in a predominantly black neighborhood in Washington. As a stand-up comedian, he appeared on "Comic View," "Def Comedy Jam" and "Showtime at the Apollo."

Mr. Rey graduated from Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University) and was a teacher, first in Wichita, Kan., and then in Cleveland, before beginning his show business career. In Cleveland he acted in several productions at the Karamu House theater, where many of Langston Hughes's plays had been developed, and also started doing stand-up comedy.

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in about 1970, he found a mentor in the longtime comedian Redd Foxx, for whom he opened in Las Vegas and on the road for 18 years. He appeared alongside Mr. Foxx on the sitcoms "Sanford" and "The Royal Family" and in the movie "Harlem Nights" (1989), which also starred Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.

In 1996 Mr. Rey wrote, directed and starred in Hollywood P.O., a musical comedy set in a post office and co-starring Sherman Hemsley, which was produced at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. He had been writing a movie about Mr. Foxx, who died in 1991.